A population-based cohort study of more than 20,000 people in Sweden associated poor oral health with reduced risk for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The article, in the April issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, reports that the protective effect increases with the severity of poor dental hygiene. Environmental factors, such as

The intestinal microbiota of many healthy, first-degree relatives of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is dysbiotic, signifying a pre-disease state, low-level inflammation, and susceptibility to IBD, researchers report in the November issue of Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Changes in the intestinal microbiome are involved in the pathogenesis

Bacteria in the small intestine metabolize gluten differently, to increase or decrease its immunogenicity, researchers report in the October issue of Gastroenterology. This interaction between microbes and gluten could help determine the risk for autoimmune enteropathy in genetically susceptible individuals and underlie the reported association between dysbiosis and celiac disease.

Dysbiosis contributes to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) by altering colonic expression of genes that regulate inflammation and the immune response, researchers report in the July issue of Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology. An altered intestinal microbiota composition has been associated with IBD. However, it is not

About the Author

Dr. Kristine Novak is the science editor for Gastroenterology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She has worked as an editor at biomedical research journals and as a science writer for 15 years, covering advances in gastroenterology, hepatology, cancer, immunology, biotechnology, molecular genetics, and clinical trials. She has a PhD in cell biology and an interest in all areas of medical research.